In his latest mailbag, Mike Klis suggests that Jack Del Rio should be the top head-coaching candidate this offseason, based upon his 3-1 mark as Denver's interim coach. But from our perspective, taking over these Broncos is more about not crashing the borrowed Ferrari (recalling Shannon Sharpe's words to Bubby Brister in 1998), and JDR's not impressed us too much in his DC role this year.

Only two teams (KC and NE) have converted first downs via the running game at a higher clip than has Denver this season.

Judging by his responses to emails, Peter King clearly doesn't understand where he went wrong in his criticism of Cam Newton on Sunday. PK, it's one thing to say the guy is playing poorly; it's another to suggest that his season - or his team's - needed saving.

Merry Christmas to you too, denverkewl - and thanks for thinking of Jasper!

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2013-12-26 11:12:49

Well hey, Jeff George was willing to risk it. ; )

Posted by broncosmontana on 2013-12-26 10:48:33

I think he's eligible to begin practicing two weeks before the game, so the coaches should have a good handle on whether he's physically capable of contributing and holding up. That's if he's 100% honest with them and athletes sometimes have a tough time doing that when they badly want to be on the field.

Posted by Yahmule on 2013-12-26 10:18:18

My favorite Jon Kitna story was about how he unabashedly walked across the field after a game against the Broncos in 1998 and had John Elway autograph a football for him.

Posted by Yahmule on 2013-12-26 09:52:22

Someone's going to have to explain to me why it would be a good idea to upset the apple cart of our record book re-writing offense by bringing in someone from outside to run it.

Posted by SammyDEEEEEE on 2013-12-26 09:50:19

I hear he's looking for work...

Posted by Kibbles on 2013-12-26 09:27:45

Why not? It was pretty much their last conceivable chance to use the Return Designation- if they had waited another week, any designated player couldn't be called back until the Superbowl, if they made it that far. Any later, and the mandatory wait would mean the injured player would miss the playoffs entirely. Even if they thought Moore had just a 1% chance of making it back, it's still worth it to designate him for return, because while the benefit might be small (just a 1% chance of seeing him back in a limited role), the cost was pretty much nonexistent.

If Denver had used the return designation on Moore on week 3, that would tell me that really thought he'd be back... but using it when they did, that basically tells me they thought "we have to use it or lose it, so let's take a flier".

Posted by Kibbles on 2013-12-26 09:26:52

Can't believe that Kitna came out of retirement. Doesn't he know that this resets his Hall of Fame eligibility and restarts his 5-year waiting period?

While most of this is true, being on IR means being able rehab and build the area back up.

The reason they put him on recallable IR was to get him back into the game.

Are you sure these items listed above will not have been addressed by then.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2013-12-25 19:30:59

With JDR anytime we start playing loose man or zone it is a zero brainer.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2013-12-25 19:08:44

Or Kubes.

Posted by ncm42 on 2013-12-25 16:05:10

Happy Xmas to the whole team and all the readers. May you have peace and joy in the coming year.

Posted by DocPonderosa on 2013-12-25 15:46:09

I think we shouldn't expect too much from Rahim when he comes back. The injury to his leg will inevitably result in some loss of strength and his speed is almost certainly going to be affected. There is some necrosis of muscle and connective tissue during a compartment syndrome and the sheath which encases the muscle is opened. This provides for the muscle to shorten within that compartment. Now that it's been opened the muscle tends to bulge outward instead of shortening in its normal way decreasing its power. While the consequences may be subtle for normal individuals, for a professional athlete they may make a big difference.

Posted by DocPonderosa on 2013-12-25 15:45:09

Sadly, With JDR there is no such thing as a no-brainer

Posted by Jake Schwartz on 2013-12-25 15:11:34

Agreed. This seems a no brainer but we'll see.

Posted by underdog on 2013-12-25 14:51:13

Jon Kitna, wow. That'd be like the Broncos re-signing Tommy Maddox. (Well, not really, but sorta.)

Happy holidays everyone! May we have an Xmas/New Years gift of beating the Raiders and getting HFA.

Posted by underdog on 2013-12-25 14:47:57

Happy holidays to all!

Doug, thanks for all the hard work and this Christmas edition! The Mason link took me to Arnie Stapleton's story.

Posted by donbok1 on 2013-12-25 13:32:53

Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted by akatom3565 on 2013-12-25 13:03:37

Merry Christmas Everyone!! Thank you for the somewhat "underground" Bronco website you provide, and put so much of your time into. Denver fans have to be the most diverse and opinionated fans out there, making this a fun place to come and see what everyone has to say. Unless you are a troll, we all have the same goal, and are Bronco Brothers in the end. GB2

Posted by WhoShotBobbyHumphrey on 2013-12-25 12:57:45

Regarding the comment that only KC and NE have converted first downs via the running game at a higher clip than has Denver this season, that considers AFC teams only. There are at least 3 NFC teams that also have a higher number, most notably Philadelphia with a league best 26.6.

Posted by skinnytony on 2013-12-25 12:20:32

I think that if Rahim gets back for the playoffs, then Adams should shift over where the Bolden/Nacho trainwreck is. Moore and Adams on the field together seems like a winning formula

Posted by Jake Schwartz on 2013-12-25 11:35:51

"All I want for Christmas is a Super Bowl." Win," (Fixed it for you.)

Posted by bradley on 2013-12-25 10:40:53

Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted by 53guys on 2013-12-25 10:34:03

There once was a man named Doug Lee,As fine a writer as could be,Got up every day,And sent Lard our way,A gift under our Christmas tree !!